Love this club

Will Manchester United and FC Barcelona continue to fall?

Award-winning American poet Jennifer Juneau wonders if the pressure of expectations are finally grinding down the players of Barcelona and Manchester United.

"What goes up must come down" is a saying most sports teams do not want to acknowledge, especially if you're Manchester United and FC Barcelona.

People often ask me as a poet and a fiction writer why I decided to write about world football. I tell them it's because of clubs like Barcelona and Manchester United; the very clubs that bring ultimate beauty to the game and clubs that know how to win.

With their contrastive style of play, if these two teams were music, watching Barcelona is akin to listening to a Spanish symphony. Seeing Manchester United play is like listening to bad boy rock stars belt out number one hits. Both are equally appealing in different ways.

Through the years I've seen these two teams go to the top and stay there. But lately, something's gone amiss.

And why when a team suffers a defeat, or in one recent case, a landslide, do they act so surprised? Do some clubs believe they are infallible? The answer must be yes.

When on 23 October Manchester United suffered a shocking defeat by Manchester City (6 - 1) I found something terribly wrong with the headline. Why shocking? Can't anyone regard a spectacular win a spectacular win without it being shocking?

Pundits and fans alike tend to attribute red cards and faulty lineups to a loss, devaluing an opponent's star-studded-side.

Manchester City could very well be the team that holds Manchester United down for the rest of the season. The heat of that challenge having been pressed upon their players is beginning to show.

The use of terms "shock" and "surprise" attributed to the victories of lesser ranked teams should not obliterate their meritorious performances.

In the light in which Manchester United and Barcelona are seen, it's a wonder any other football club exists at all. On the one hand, I am proud to say I support them, along with any other team that hits the top four, on the other hand, I am embarrassed when I boast about my admiration for the big shots in the presence of diehard fans of relegation and bottom ten teams.

These are true football lovers through and through. The ones born and bred in small English cities and small Spanish towns.

I consider those raised in Manchester and Barcelona lucky to have grown up in big league neighborhoods, because they can never be accused of fair-weather fanaticism.

But I suspect that the emphasis placed on winning is more than just being the best. How many coaches were sacked because their team failed to collect silverware?

Although it is still early days of the 2011-2012 season, Manchester United and Barcelona are continually put to the test. By mid-season the photograph should be more in focus-and amid transfer rumors and controversies, we can look forward to watching that snapshot develop.